A 33-year-old Slovakian national, Alan Bill of Bratislava, has entered a guilty plea in a U.S. federal court in St. Louis for his role in the operation of Kingdom Market, a darknet platform that facilitated the exchange of various goods and services between March 2021 and December 2023. Bill faced one felony count of conspiracy to distribute controlled substances, a charge that carries a potential sentence ranging from five to 40 years in prison, along with a fine of up to $5 million.
Role in Kingdom Market
Court records indicate that Bill was involved in maintaining and managing the technical infrastructure of Kingdom Market. His activities included providing web administration services, assisting with the creation of forum pages on platforms such as Reddit and Dread, and managing usernames used to post content associated with Kingdom Market on social media accounts. Bill also received cryptocurrency through a digital wallet linked to the platform and communicated with others regarding transactions.
Kingdom Market Seizure
Kingdom Market was a popular darknet marketplace that had been active since March 2021. The market was dismantled in late 2023 as part of a coordinated international law enforcement operation. International organizations were involved in a multi‑jurisdictional operation that targeted the platform’s infrastructure and ultimately led to its shutdown. Despite being seized over 2 years ago, the data gathered from the operations can take years to process, which can lead to arrests even years down the line.
Federal Investigation
Undercover investigations by federal authorities began around July 2022, with purchases including fentanyl, methamphetamine, and a U.S. passport being shipped into the Eastern District of Missouri. Bill was arrested on December 15, 2023, at Newark Liberty International Airport, following a customs inspection that uncovered multiple electronic devices, including mobile phones, a laptop, a thumb drive, and a hardware wallet. These devices contained records tying him to Kingdom Market operations.
The investigation into Kingdom Market involved multiple U.S. agencies, including the IRS Criminal Investigation, FBI, DEA, Homeland Security Investigations, U.S. Postal Inspection Service, Social Security Administration Office of Inspector General, Bureau of Diplomatic Security, and the Missouri Department of Revenue. International collaboration included authorities from Germany, Switzerland, Moldova, and Ukraine.
Plea Agreement and Asset Forfeiture
As part of his plea agreement, Bill consented to the forfeiture of cryptocurrency stored in his digital wallet and the seizure of the Kingdom Market domains, Kingdommarket.live and Kingdommarket.so, which are now offline. Sentencing is scheduled for May 5 of this year.
0 Comments